The Tolosa Children's Dental Center is welcoming two new pediatric dentists, Dr. Trinh and Dr. Lawrence, in August 2017. The addition of these new providers allows for more under 12 patient access at both the Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo Tolosa Children's Dental Center offices.

Denti-Cal Provider List

Children's Dental Access Issues?

Contact the SLO County Oral Health Coordinator, Navid Fardanesh, at 781-5503 or nfardanesh@co.slo.ca.us for help obtaining dental services for children.Check out slooralhealth.org/oral-health-information for oral health information, resources, and links to online videos and activities for children.

New Resource to Help Parents Find and Work with a Dentist

Many parents are not aware of what to look for in a dentist for a young child and when to start dental care. Once they have a dentist for their child, they often don't know several important things:

Children should be seen quickly in an emergency,

Children should be seen for an exam, cleaning, and x-rays in one visit, and

All repair work in one area of the mouth should be completed during one visit.

The Finding the Right Dentist for Your Child guide covers all of these issues. It also gives parents information about who to contact if they need a different dentist. Click below to download your copy. Please feel free to distribute to parents and guardians.

Need Help?

Family Resource Centers can help with non-medical needs too, such as food, clothing, and shelter.

Adult Denti-Cal is Back!

The California Legislature restored payment for many adult Denti-Cal services as of May, 2014. Adult Medi-Cal patients now have access to many dental procedures at Community Health Centers of the Central Coast dental clinics in Templeton, Nipomo, and Santa Maria and with private dentists who take Denti-Cal.

Homeless Residents

Low-income residents who do not qualify for other health insurance but are homeless are eligible for care through CHC's Homeless Services. Providers and clients can contact Joe Gossner (North & Central) at 459-7476 or Jan Stone (South County), 723-4699 for services. Case management is not mandatory, though clients must try to sign up for Medi-Cal (this will not affect immigration status).

Dental Grants Available

A reminder about the SLO County Children's Dental Services Grant to help with the costs of urgent treatment. Children can be referred directly by dental or health care providers, school nurses, WIC clinics, and other child-serving professionals. Funds are limited and assigned on a case-by-case basis to families who cannot afford treatment.The Children's Dental Service Grant is administered by the Center for Family Strengthening. Families are connected to dental care by County Public Health's CHDP Program. For more information on how to access this fund for clients, contact Bridgette Hernandez, Supervising Public Health Nurse, at (805) 788-2108 or bhernandez@co.slo.ca.us. 2) The County is interviewing candidates for the currently-vacant Oral Health Program Manager position and will be hiring for nearly five new positions for the new oral health grants.

In January, the County received two new grants totaling over $3 million from the State to support expanding access for children's dental health. These funds represent the largest influx in oral health funding in memory with the goal of seeing a least a 20% increase in the percentage of Denti-Cal children who receive regular care.​The first contract for $2.2 million will be used over a 3-year period for the Dental Transformation Initiative - Local Dental Pilot Program. There are 3 components to the project which include:

A "virtual dental home" where Community Health Centers will send out registered dental hygienists (RDHs) to local schools in the Lucia Mar Unified School District to provide preventive care, assessments with x-rays and temporary restorations. A "virtual" CHC dentist will review patient records, x-rays and make treatment recommendations.

Outreach, screenings and referrals will be provided by RDHs at low-income housing sites in conjunction with Paso Robles Housing Authority, Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo and People's Self Help Housing. Dentists who agree to accept referrals will receive a $100 stipend for each new patient.

Scholarships to new trainees to increase the number of Registered Dental Assistants (RDA) and RDH's in Alternative Practice. This will add to the number of dental providers able to see children.

The second contract is for nearly $1 million over 5 years through the newly enacted Proposition 56 for the Local Oral Health Program. These funds will be used for the purpose of educating about oral health, prevent dental disease, and link to treatment of dental disease including dental disease caused by the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

These funds will create a comprehensive public health infrastructure for an oral health program within the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and provide backbone support for the recently released State Oral Health Plan. SLO County will update its oral health strategic plan and work to expand dental health resources and monitor progress.